DETROIT — Character wins do not come gift-wrapped, certainly not on the road and rarely for the Minnesota Wild at championship-draped Joe Louis Arena.

However, the Wild are unstoppable at the moment, methodically scoring and racking up points in the standings while vanquishing demons everywhere. The Red Wings, long their Motor City tormentors, became just another victim on a seminal road trip that concluded with Minnesota reclaiming first place in the Northwest Division and solidifying its status as a team on the rise.

Devin Setoguchi scored a pair of goals and Niklas Backstrom was brilliant in net again Wednesday, March 20, as the travel-weary Wild posted an inspiring 4-2 victory over Detroit.

Four straight wins and 10 in their past 14 games punctuated a six-point road trip as the Wild continue to play stronger and more cohesively than at any point this season, burying the identity crisis and self pity that defined their first dozen or so games.

Defenseman Ryan Suter said players are accountable to one another, they’re confident, and the club is reaping the rewards.

“We expect to win now,” he said. “Early on, we might not have expected it. We’re having a lot of success. It’s fun hockey. They weren’t easy places to play in. Right now, we’ve got our identity filled out. We know what we’re doing, and we’re just kind of riding it.”

Ten players registered points against the Red Wings. The Wild scored a pair of power-play goals and have 10 in their past 12 games. Despite being outshot 17-5 in the first period, they led 2-0 early in the second and never were really threatened by Detroit, which had not lost at home in regulation to Minnesota since Jan. 3, 2006.

This after the Wild downed the Canucks 3-1 Monday in Vancouver, where they ended an 11-game losing streak. So look out, Dallas.

The Stars have won 16 straight home games over Minnesota since March 2003, but the Wild play their next two road games at American Airlines Arena next week.

“I think we’re confident going into any building now,” coach Mike Yeo said. “I think we’re a different team, and a lot of that is the confidence coming into every game.”

Backstrom, starting his eighth straight game and 13th in Minnesota’s past 14, smothered the Red Wings during their first-period siege. He caught a break seven minutes into the first when referee Dave Jackson waved off Drew Miller’s potential tying goal, ruling correctly that Miller high-sticked the puck before it deflected off Dany Heatley’s glove and skittered past Backstrom.

The Wild also throttled Detroit’s dynamic scoring duo of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, no easy task considering Minnesota was on the back end of a grueling Denver-Vancouver-Detroit trip that covered more than 3,700 miles across four time zones.

“The main thing is everyone’s ready to go from the start of the game,” said Setoguchi, who has six goals among eight points in his past five games. “When you’ve got everyone going, every line jumping, that just makes it easier to go out there and play for everybody else. It’s everyone from Backie all the way up.”

Detroit typically is where the Wild’s fortitude is crushed.

The Red Wings were 17-6 at home in 23 previous home games against Minnesota, outshooting the Wild by an average of 38-24. They posted a 38-19 advantage Wednesday night and have been outshot only once by the Wild at Joe Louis Arena — way back in December 2006.

“I give our guys a ton of credit for the way we played this game,” said Yeo. “I felt tired today. That was difficult travel. It was a long trip. They put a lot into it today. It was very impressive.”

Brian Murphy has been on the Pioneer Press sports staff since 2000, migrating from the Detroit Free Press, where he covered police, courts and sports for four years. Murphy was the Minnesota Wild/NHL beat writer from 2002 to 2008 and has covered the Vikings as a reporter and columnist since 2009. Murphy is a Detroit native and Wayne State University graduate.

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